Regulatory and judicial reforms adopted by the House in HR 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, and being proposed in other bills, are urgently needed to unshackle America’s mining industry before the nation faces significant economic and national security challenges, Republicans warned during a Congressional field hearing on critical mineral development in Goodyear, Arizona, on…

SALT LAKE CITY—A mountain climber and a cliff diver have died in separate incidents at national recreation spots in the West, officials said. Cory Ryan Ehrnschwender, 36, of Cincinnati died while cliff-jumping at Lake Powell, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday. The lake is located in southern Utah and northern Arizona in the Glen Canyon…

A federal judge has struck down a law that restricts the recording of law enforcement, declaring the law unconstitutional. The Republican-backed law—House Bill 2319—signed by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in July 2022, would limit how close people can get to law enforcement officers while recording them. Under the law, if the officer tells the…

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Arizona from enforcing a law banning transgenders from playing on girls’ school sports teams. The judge in Tucson granted a preliminary injunction to allow the processing of a lawsuit (pdf) filed on behalf of two prepubescent transgenders against the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which was passed by the Legislature…

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker, will delay production at its new Arizona chip plant to 2025 due to a shortage of skilled labor. The year-long delay comes as trade relations between Washington and Beijing, have deteriorated over the past several years. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu broke the news to investors on a…

The hotel workers’ strike that started in Los Angeles continued to expand in Southern California, with workers in Orange County walking off their jobs last week, demanding higher wages and benefits while seeking support for a union-backed ballot measure to house homeless people at hotels. The strike by members of Unite Here Local 11 started with…

As Arizona faces drought and intense heat, the city in Scottsdale has banned natural grass in the front yards of newly built homes in an effort to conserve water. The measure was supported unanimously by the Scottsdale City Council and will apply to single-family homes constructed or permitted after Aug. 15. “By adopting this ordinance,…

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake filed an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court in her election case as she claimed that 8,000 unreadable ballots were not configured properly during last year’s midterms. In an appeal filed (pdf) with the state’s highest court, Ms. Lake alleged that the 8,000 ballots were either “duplicated or counted.” What’s more,…

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake filed an appeal to the state’s Supreme Court in her election case as she claimed that thousands of ballots weren’t configured properly during last year’s governor’s race. In an appeal filed (pdf) on July 14 with the state’s highest court, Ms. Lake alleged that the 8,000 ballots were either “duplicated…

The attorneys and legal firms for Kari Lake, the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, should pay $122,200 in sanctions to Maricopa County, a U.S. district judge ruled Friday. “Plaintiffs’ counsel Andrew D. Parker, the law firm of Parker Daniels Kibort LLC, Kurt B. Olsen, and the law firm of Olsen Law PC,…